Doctor went over page 1 of my C spine MRI but forgot to go over page 2. I just read it and don't understand what the report means. Could you please shed some light upon (a)what the MRI jargon in my report means, and (b)what specifically my MRI report means?

As it is now late Friday night, I have no one to answer my question.

The report for the T spine reads as follows: (1) There is an abnormality in the left paraspinal soft tissue. It is increased in signal intensity on T2 images and decreased in signal intensity on T1 images. (2) Questionable abnormal marrow signal in the spinous processes at each thoracic level which is presumably red marrow.

What is red marrow? Is it normal for adults to have red marrow in the spinous processes?

I truly appreciate any and all information you could possibly provide as I am sitting on pins and needles till Monday, when I can go back to the doctor's office.

Normal bone marrow has yellow marrow and red marrow. Yellow marrow is more of fat and red marrow is more of haematopoitic tissue. in infants marrow is predominantly hematopoietic with the exception of epiphyses & apophyses, which are predominantly fatty throughout life. with skeletal growth, red marrow is gradually replaced by fat. red marrow persistis longer in the vertebrae, pelvic bones, sternum, & proximal ends of the long tubular bones, during normal marrow conversion, residual islands of red marrow may subsist in the yellow marrow, as may fatty foci in red marrow.islands of red marrow residue may be a normal variant especially in obese women, cigarette smokers marathon runners.

However, what is bothering me is paraspinal altered signal intensity for which probabaly your physician will be the best judge, such an appearance can sometimes be seen in hemolytic processes...along with red marrow.. Blood smear picture may help.

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